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Sunday, 16 January 2011

Hot dogs! That's the theme for January's International Incident Party, hosted, as always, by the lovely Jeroxie. It's been quite the messy situation organising myself for this month's party, and I had a few hiccups along the way - but I got something done. It's certainly not the traditional hot dog - more a hot-dog-inspired canapé or pintxo re-interpreted with a strong Chinese twist. I present to you my eggy crispy rice sandwiches with lap cheong!

If you're not familiar with lap cheong, it is a sweet chinese sausage, usually made of pork, and as is typical of Asian goodies, does not seem to have an official or universal English spelling. On my packet, for example, it is spelt "lup chong". Either way, have a look at my photographs and if you see something that looks like those in your local Asian grocery, you should be on the right track. I do recommend that you try these sweet, savoury, fatty bundles of deliciousness: they are fantastic in dishes such as congee and fried rice.

a packet of lap cheong, plus a Lebanese cucumber I forgot to use.

cross section shots of the sweet chinese sausage usually labelled as lap cheong or lup chong.

Since lap cheong goes so well with fried rice, I decided to make eggy, crispy rice cakes to use as mini sandwiches. The concept of these, in some ways, is quite similar to my flourless potato pancake-omelettes, except instead of potatoes, rice is used here, and instead of keeping them soft and fluffy, I pan-fried them till crispy on the outside.

The first thing I did was steam some rice, together with chopped up Chinese chives, red chilli, ginger, salt and pepper. I also steamed the lap cheong. I then mixed the cooked rice with egg. Finally, I assembled the mini sandwiches, which is basically just putting the crispy rice omelette-cakes together with the steamed lap cheong. I had planned to add cucumber for a cool, refreshing contrast, but I forgot. It still turned out well.

- Lightly beat the egg, then add the seasoned cooked rice and mix well.
- Heat up a little oil in the frying pan and spoon the mixture into the hot pan, frying it like you would an omelette or pancake. Press the mixture down to help it fry faster and hold its shape, and cook on both sides until crispy on the outside.
- Remove the crispy egg-rice omelette-pancake from the pan, and cut into little squares.
- Place the lap cheong onto one crispy rice cake, and top it with another crispy rice cake. Secure with toothpicks. If you want a higher ratio of lap cheong joy, do it open-sandwich-style and omit the crispy rice cake on top. Remember to steam an extra lap cheong in that case!
- If you do use cucumber, you can incorporate them into the mini sandwiches, or serve them on the side.
- Serve immediately, while they are still warm and crispy.

appetizing bite-sized finger food: part sandwich, part pintxo, part canapé.

Most people wouldn't consider serving hot dogs as appetizers, but you've turned it into a perfect canapé with this creation! The crisp rice cakes are a perfect foil to the fatty goodness of Chinese sausages. Would love one or two of these right now..!

International incident party? I like that name. I also like hot dogs. Given that I like the name and that I like hot dogs, I think there's every indication I would totally dig these. And what makes a cucumber lebanese?

Try the sausages Shirley - they may not be the healthiest thing in the world, but everything in moderation! Plus they're delicious.

Abby, I think I know the sticky rice dish you are talking about (lo mai gai?)... yum!

Rich, Lebanese cucumbers are small with not many seeds - I think they may also have other names but that's what they are commonly labelled in Australia. Also, feel free to join the next International Incident Party! :D